On Sep 15, 8:01*am, "Joe" wrote:
"RonB" wrote in message

...
On Sep 15, 4:01 am, Puckdropper puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:



While cleaning up the shop today, I had a bunch of time to think.
(Sweeping requires very little mental activity.) So, while shoveling
pilefuls of saw dust into a bucket, I started to wonder about uses for
it.

Could the sawdust be glued and pressed to make particle board? It's got
irregular shapes, and it's not all the same species. Here's a get rich
slowly scheme... Drive to neighborhood shops and collect the sawdust from
them. Then make boards. I know I had at least a 1x12x3' worth of
sawdust under the saw. It only took 4 months.

About that press... Most people have something that weighs a couple tons
in their own driveway. Maybe a car could be used to run over the boards
a couple times to pack it nice and tight. (Or make a really heavy man
hopping mad?)

How about using it for fire starting? I know it won't burn well by
itself (the top layer burns, but the bottom layer gets choked out.) A
little sawdust, some alcohol, and some pressure, and you've got a free
fire starter right?

Well at least it's something to think about next time you're sweeping up
the shop.

We looked into using sawdust, especially planer chips for mulch a year
or so ago. *Several extension services were not big on sawdust because
it doesn't provide much soil nutrition as it breaks down. *It also
tends to attract termites. *However, they did suggest trowing an inch
or two between layers in a compost bin. *It would add bulk and absorb
some of the nutrients from the surrounding compost matter during
decomposition.

RonB

I've read that you compost it until it turns grey, *then* add it to your
garden, beds, whatever. *Something about the initial decompostion process
actually leaching the nutrients out of the soil if you don't compost it
first?

The sawdust leaches nitrogen until it is composted. So the idea is to
add nitrogen.

I use it in a pee bucket in the shop. Put some sawdust at the bottom
of the bucket, add a few handfuls every time you take a leak. Does not
smell and urine adds nitrogen. Into the compost bin when it's full.
This idea came from Doug Stowe here on the Wreck many years ago.

I also mix it with grass clippings in the compost bin. Works really
well in creating nice compost rather than a smelly mat.

Luigi